Locked Away
by Adamina20
Summary: Itachi has finally been caught by Konoha. Of course he will be interrogated by Ibiki now, even tortured. Sakura has to heal him every now and then. But what happens when it's decided that Itachi will be executed? What's Sakura going to do? ItaSaku REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

**Yes, a new story again. Just can't help it! Blame my muzes!**

**Sakura might be OOC in this chapter, but I'll promise to make it up in chapter 2.**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

Locked away. Yes, he had been locked away. For how long? How long was it again?

Eight days, yes... eight long days, without any daylight, proper food, without any training, without any complaints of his (former)… partner; Kisame.

He had been caught, the great Itachi, the prodigy, the one and only cause of the Uchiha-massacre had been caught by Konoha's ninjas. It had been rather unfair, because he had been badly injured already when they found him and his bad-eyesight didn't help preventing it either. No, those young nins were just lucky that day. Dumb luck, he called it. He had been caught by the kyuubi jinchuuriki, a guy named Rock Lee, a male Hyuga, and a guy he did not know, a certain Nara, the leader of their small squad.

Yes, they had just been very lucky, he decided. However, knowing that fact could not help him now.

No, he had been caught already now. His cloak and shirt being ripped off of him, leaving him bare chested and chained to the wall. His arms are spread in an uncomfortable position, with the iron rings of the chains biting his skin. His knees rest on the hard and cold ground. Blood is pouring out of the fresh wounds on his naked back and shoulders. And cold sweat slowly drips down his temples, while he grits his teeth.

Even though his body was in this horrible state, worn, tired, wounded and already underfed, his eyes are closed and he had been able to remain calm.

Yes, he can shut out pain, that's why Ibiki wasn't done with him yet. He had turned off pain, that way he was able to keep his mind clear. He could do that, he could shut out pain. This Uchiha wasn't called a prodigy for nothing, you know.

He had been tortured several times, never betraying his organization, never being a traitor to Akatsuki. He could stand it, he could stand it all. Never did he lose his mind in pain. He had been thinking, about many things. About the thing that actually got him here.

Oh yes, he remembers… It was for killing his own clan. Slaying every member of it. Stabbing even his own parents to death, leaving only his little brother behind.

''Sasuke…'' he whispers.

Ironically enough, he wonders what ever became of him. He heard Sasuke left Konoha, to gain power from that snake-freak Orochimaru. And three years later, another rumour reached Akatsuki's Headquarters. It seemed that his foolish little brother had killed Orochimaru and their former spy Kabuto. He had returned to Konoha and that was the last thing he ever heard of the other Uchiha. Not that he was utterly interested in his foolish little brother.

Itachi hears footsteps, and of course he immediately knows what that means... Interrogation.

That is the only reason why anyone visits him anyway. He has been cut off from any for of society for more than a week now. The heavy door opens, the hinges crack loudly. Ibiki's silhouette appears in the doorframe. The bright daylight blinds the prisoner. Ibiki walks over to Itachi, his heavy boots making his footsteps echo loud in the interrogation-dungeon in which Itachi is locked.

Ibiki pulls Itachi's head up by his hair, forcing the Uchiha's black gaze to fix on his own. Yes, they had been injecting him with a drug everyday. A drug which made him uncapable of using any chakra. In his first day of prison, he realized that with them drugging him every day, he lost his ability to activate his highly respected Sharingan and thus the Mangekyou Sharingan.

His unfocused black eyes look into Ibiki's as the heavy voice of the interrogater speaks. ''They have given me two more days to interrogate you. If you won't spill anything... You'll be executed, since you're of no further use to us.''

The weak prisoner does not respond, he just stares at the scarred man. ''That's why I'm giving you a special treatment in these two days.'' his face darkens, his eyes almost penetrate Itachi's. His hand still clutches Itachi's hair in a strong grip.

''When I leave this room, two other men will take my place, and they will do whatever I order them to.'' he now whispers. ''Are you sure you're not telling me anything now?'' He releases his grip on the man's hair and takes a step back, watching the Uchiha's head drop. However, the Akatsuki member still and always remains quiet.

''Then it's settled.'' he quietly says. ''We meet again tomorrow, perhaps you find yourself able to talk then. If not... I'll send them in again.''

He hears more footsteps enter the room, followed by Ibiki's whispering: ''Break some bones, but don't go too far... Save some for the next time.''

Itachi closes his eyes as Ibiki's footsteps die away and the hinges of the heavy door crack loudly again, the daylight being broken. Covering Itachi in darkness for the umpteenth time.

This time... when the two men torture him, he is not able to remain quiet. Icy screams leave his throat as bones are being broken, muscles being ripped and flesh is being bruises. Pain runs through all his veins as his weakened body is being tortured for an answer. He screams and after some time, which takes far too long, he passes out.

When he awakes from darkness, his chains are loose. He is lying on the cold floor, but he feels something warm on his stomach. Itachi tries to sit up, but finds himself unable, completely drugged... That's when he slightly starts to panic. His senbon-pierced hands are wrapped in tight bandages he notices when he tries to clench his fists. His breath speeds up, but suddenly he calms down when he hears a soft feminine voice speak.

''Two broken ribs, sprained ankle, wound on the head, multiple stabs in upperleg, shoulder and neck.''

His head moves up to watch the person that's speaking. The room is very dark, only enlightened by the light coming from the half closed door and from a green glow. The green glow is coming from the medic's hands, the source of warmth he feels on his stomach. He doesn't really focus on what she is saying, but her voice seems to calm him down.

With a slightly blurred vision, he sees the medic healing his probably broken ribs and naming his injuries. Behind her stands a brown haired assistent, writing down what the girl is saying. His eyes focus on the medic again. Pink hair, green eyes... Yes, the female team-member of the kyuubi jinchuuriki, he recalls. He lets his head fall back again and tries to moisten his dry lips.

''Bring me some more bandages please, also... some water for the patient.''

His eyes shoot up and see the medic looking at him. A strange expression is on her face. Is it pity, digsust, worry, anger? He cannot tell. Maybe the expression contains it all. He looks away from her.

''Are you in pain?'' she asks with the same soft and calm voice. He slowly shakes his head

''Good.''

He forgets about the medic for a moment and realizes that he has still one and a half day of torture... In an hour, Ibiki will probably visit him again, and start the interrogating again when he is ''healthy'' enough. But Itachi is not planning on giving away anything. That means more torture... at least things will be over soon.

''Why won't you speak...'' a soft voice pulls him out of his thoughts. His half lidded black eyes watch the girl again, kneeling next to his body, working on his shoulder. For a second, their eyes meet, but hers soon fix on his wound again.

''You would save yourself a lot of pain...'' she whispers.

He decides not to answer and she decides not to ask any further. While the pink haired medic still works on his torn body, the assistent comes in again. She hands Sakura some more bandages and places a water bottle next to the Uchiha's arm. The silent healing continues like this for another forty minutes.

Sakura helps the prisoner sit up and hands him his water bottle. With a still drugged head, Itachi lets the cool liquid sooth his sour throat, he closes his eyes at the sensation.

Suddenly he feels a wet cloth rubbing his forehead. Itachi's dark eyes open immediately. He watches her, rubbing the dried blood off his forehead, her lips slightly parted and a concentrated look on her face. He looks down at his bandaged hand, holding the water bottle.

How disgusted he suddenly feels. He had worked so hard for all that power, for all that freedom. And now... they've taken it away from him. They've taken it all away. They took away his power by drugging him, his Sharingan! They took away his freedom by prisoning him. He is disgusted by himself... how pitifull. He watches his legs and realizes how weak his body has become. Underfed, worn, tired, injured. Lack of sleep causes the lines under his eyes to stand out even more. He sighs deeply, hopeless.

_So pitifull._

This is the first time he feels desperate actually, he realizes. He cannot escape without any help. He cannot survive this time without any help. He will be executed. Desperation suddenly squeezes his heart painfully.

''There...'' she whispers smoothly as she retreats her hands and watches his clean skin. Again, her voice seems to take the worry off his heart. The sound of someone talking to him calms him down. No one has talked to him for days, nobody has looked at him. Nobody has even taken care of him... for so long. This girl was taking care of him now and, probably without her knowing, comforting him slightly.

''Thank you.'' he speaks quietly with a raw voice. She looks him in the eyes and gives him a soft smile. She probably doesn't know that he wasn't thanking her for just cleaning his forehead. After that, he has to stand, while she chains him to the wall again. Carefully, she locks the iron rings around his thin wrists. Positioning him in a very uncomfortable way again, especially with his barely healed shoulder. When she walks to the door she sends him one last look, before Ibiki takes her place.

As Ibiki closes the door again, Itachi realizes that the look on the girl's face meant:

Guilt.

* * *

**Hope you liked it.**

**In about six days I'm going to China (!) , so I'll probably upload chapter 2 in one of these days.**

**Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is, Chapter two!**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

_''Uchiha Itachi... You miserable creature! Just look at yourself! Tell us ONE thing, and we'll let you live. You won't be tortured anymore! You are a young man, you still have a life ahead of you!''_

_And as always, the young man keeps his mouth shut, his eyed fixed on the dirty floor. _

_''One more time then...''_

He awakes, finally. A burning headache, having trouble breathing. He can tell that every part of his body has been cut, stung or burned. His chakra so low, his life-energy almost gone. He feels so weak, unable to even open his eyes, unable to even move an inch.

_It almost over... _He knows it is. But strangely enough, he doesn't want it to be over. He doesn't feel like admitting that his path will end here. What is this strange feeling? He never felt it before. Probably because he had never been this close to death. To the end of his path, the end of his power. Will he die just like this, with no one remembering him when he is finally gone? Was all this trouble for nothing?

Awfully tired, he is so tired. Why can't he just sleep? Why does he always have to be awake to feel this incredible pain?

His legs are broken, his wrist is bend in a impossible way. Half of his black long hair cut away. Why can't he just sleep, so that he doesn't have to feel this anymore? He never was a good sleeper, he always had trouble sleeping. He yawns softly and a few tears leave his eyes as he does. Why is the floor so cold? Why is the floor this hard? Why why why.

He had succeeded in staying calm all the time that he had been locked up, but now... He is beginnig to lose it. No, he finally gets it... He has not been locked up, because that would mean he would be able to escape or to be rescued. No, he has been locked away. Away, a place where no one can save him, where no one can escape from. He would never be saved, never escape. Suddenly the walls seem to close him in, everything starts spinning. Will pain make him go crazy? Will this fever drive him insane? So much pain, too much pain. It has to stop, it MUST stop or he will go crazy.

With a slow movement, the heavy door opens, light fills the room. With some strength, he opens his eyes. They sting badly, because of his bad eyesight and the bright light. Someone's silhouette steps slowly into the room.  
He manages to see that it's a woman. The pinkhaired medic kneels next to him.

_Can she save me?_

After five hours of constant healing, and a day of some resting, he finds himself in a different place. Obviously, they had decided to execute him. And more obviously, the medic had insisted that they had to transfer him into a better place. The fact that he didn't get any fresh air, daylight and proper bed would damage his health badly.

And when you put it the other way... he WAS being executed, so why not lessen his suffering a bit.

The place he was staying now was an ordinary cell. Iron bars from ceiling to the floor closed him in. And there was an open window (with bars of course).

This required them to completly drain his chakra, he gets drugged once every two days. He can't escape. Kisame could have, with his monstrous strength, even without his chakra. No, Itachi's body had gone fragile and everything just hurted. The hard floor under his bare feet, his hard bed. He couldn't stand a single thing anymore. Broken, completely broken.

But he guessed it was better than being in that dark room. He shivers slightly underneath his thin blanket. That dark room, a place where he never wants to be anymore. Now that he is here, he feels more calm.

People can even visit him now (not that he wants them to). There have been several people already. Because they all want to see the famous Itachi in a cell, locked up, or better... locked away. Strangely that made so much difference. Most of them are shinobi, don't they all want to see the cause of the Uchiha massacre? Don't they all want to watch him locked and powerless? The great Uchiha Itachi in prison of Konoha.

He feels like an animal in a zoo with everyone watching him. Some of them make fun of him, others just stare. He doesn't care, nothing really matters to him now. God, even children came in... Just like that little boy, early in the morning. That was the only visit that had interesed him a bit. The boy kind of reminded him of Sasuke. Black haired, so young, probably seven years old or something. The boy hadn't said a word to him, they had just watched each other for a few moments and then the boy had left.

Sometimes his visitors tried to start a conversation with him, not that he gave them the slightest bit of his attention. Most of the times he just glares at the visitor and keeps silent. The medic visits him too sometimes. To check him up, he actually didnt know why. Why checking him up if he was being executed? Perhaps Konoha has become that caring to their prisoners while he had been gone. Anyway, she came to give him check ups. It seemed that his health had become very bad during his stay in Konoha's prison. Especially after his time in that torture-room. He shivers again. Luckily she always does her best to heal him, to make him feel better.

Why does that somehow feel so comforting? He knows that he is going to die, but with her around, caring for him... it all seems to become less worse. Footsteps pull him out of his thoughts. His eyes shoot up to the person standing in front of his cell. It's the medic again.

She nods politely at him and smiles while opening his cell. Ever since she healed him for the first time, he couldn't help wondering why she didn't treat him like the person he truly is. She is a friend of the kyuubi jinchuuriki right? The boy is his target, so why doesn't she hate him? Also, he is Sasuke's brother and the cause of her ex-teammates miserable life. Why is she being so nice to him? Why? His eyes narrow slightly as he wonders.

Slowly he sits up as she approaches the bed. He notices that she always wears a white coat, unlike many other medics. With her hand, she pushes a few strands of short pink hair safely behind her ears. Which he noticed to be one of her habits. In her other hand, she carries a pen and a notebook. Her right hand is playing with the pen she is holding. Clicking it in a steady rhythm. Another habit of hers. She looks at him. Itachi straightens his back and puts his feet down to the ground.

''How are you feeling today?'' she asks him with a soft voice. He always dislikes talking, he prefers staying quiet and let her do the talking. But listening to her soft and feminine voice always soothens everything.

''I'm fine.'' he replies shortly with his hoarse voice. He always came with the same answer, he even did so when both his legs were broken. Somehow she seems to find it ironic.

''I see.'' she smiles, amused by him. She places her right hand on his forehead, noticing that his habit of blocking her hand had disappeared. It's a reflex that many shinobi have.

''Your fever seems to be gone. But I want to hear your breathing again, so please turn around.'' Itachi looks at her for a few moments, with his eyes slightly narrowed. And during that moment, he notices her not tensing or fearing him. Her green eyes just watch his, hers only a bit widened. Then he stands and obeys. So he had lost that too? He had lost his intimidating attitude and looks too? Did he lose his ability to scare people too now?

With his bare back turned to her, he watches the wall. When he starts breathing deeply in and out, he is suddenly shocked by the fact that she places her hand and head on his back, inserting some chakra to examine and to listen to his breathing. The physical contact shocks him somewhat. The feeling of having her chakra inside his body surprises him.

A warm and soft hand, on his scarred, hard and cold back. She withdraws and he turns around again. Now that he stands directly in front of her, he notices himself being taller than her.

''Your ribs and back are still not doing so well. I want you to lie down a bit more, okay? Give your back some rest. And gain some weight!'' As usual he doesn't respond when not needed. He isn't deaf, she knows he heard her.

''I'll be going then.'' she speaks as she writes something down in her notebook. She locks his cell again.

''Goodbye, medic.'' he quietly speaks. She looks at him sharply, eyes narrowed when she hears him finally speak to her out of free will. Especially the word he used... Medic. Was he being rude or did he just didn't know her name? But then she smiles and waves.

''I'll make sure you'll get an extra blanket.'' She leaves, he lies down again, assuming that he has nothing else to do, he might as well take her advice. That day the boy visited him again very shortly. And even though the Uchiha was asleep, he did not fail to notice the kid's presence. He is still a prodigy, remember?

Itachi wakes up early in the morning. He can hear some birds singing and smell the scent of the forest. It had been raining yesterday, making the forest's scent alive. He likes the scent. His back hurts, as does his lungs when he breaths, he feels cramp. He carefully strechtes his back as he sits up, blanket halfly covering his body. Then he notices the pile in his cell, next to the door. He stands and slowly walks to it. When he grabs it he remembers. _An extra blanket huh? _

He covers his naked upper-body with it, enjoying the fabric on his skin. He lies down again, it's not like he has anything better to do. He stares at the ceilling, thinking about... everything. His life, his family, his punishment, the medic and more. But his thoughts are interrupted when a door opens. The Uchiha glances through the bars and notices a little boy standing in front of his cell. It's the same young boy that visited him some time ago.

This time, Itachi doesn't practically ignore him. No, this time he sits up, cocks his head to the left and watches the boy with interest. The little boy, with black hair and dark eyes still looks at him. Itachi stands and very slowly walks to the bars in a threatening pace. He sees that the boy is not afraid, he does not fear Itachi. And that's very unlikely for children of his age. Even in this state, he could still crush the little boy in front of him.

He halts at some distance from the bars, looking down on the small kid. The child looks up and for a few seconds they just look at each other from that awkward position. The kid looks up, the man looks down, separated by iron bars. Then instantly the boy turns around and runs away.

''You...'' Itachi speaks in order to stop him. The boy indeed stops and turns around, his eyes still holding no fear for the Uchiha.

''What is you name?'' The boy slowly takes a few steps towards the cell again. His fingers push a strand of black hair out of his face. With a soft and small voice he answers:

''My name is Shin.''

The Uchiha smirks and his hand closes around an iron bar. ''Why do you keep visiting me, Shin?'' Itachi observes the boy and notices that his clothes are Shinobi-like. Probably in acadamy, he states.

''I don't know. My dad says I can't visit you, but... I wondered what you looked like.''

The man smiles and leans agains the bars. ''And who is you father, Shin?''

The boy smirks proudly, feeling more at comfort around the prisoner. ''Uchiha Sasuke.''

Itachi's black eyes widen and his breath hitches for a second. Thoughts are running through his mind. The fact that Shin is here, probably means that Sasuke's in Konoha too. So his little brother is still alive, huh? He wonders, now that he is prisoned, will Sasuke still try to kill him? He turns to the boy again.

''Why aren't you allowed to visit me, Shin?'' he asks. Of course he knows why, he just wants to check how much information Sasuke tells his son.

''Because Otou-san said that uncle Itachi is evil and very bad.'' he speaks quickly, not sure of how Itachi would react. But the man only laughs. ''Is that so?'' he looks at the boy. ''Well he's telling the truth.''

The boy's eyes widen but then he nods slowly, understandingly. Itachi kneels down and looks the kid deeply in his eyes. No wonder that he thought the kid looked like Sasuke. This child has Uchiha eyes, black and powerful. Itachi can already imagine the powerful Sharingan in them, with the spinning copywheel. The boy is very similar to his father.

''Be sure to visit me again, Shin.'' his voice soft, the way he had always spoken to Sasuke when they were still ''true'' brothers, long ago. The boy nods again and gives his uncle a small smile. Then he turns around and leaves the prisonblock.

Itachi wipes the smiles off his face and walks to his bed again, lying down. He repeats the conversation in his head. He finds it somehow very disturbing that he has a nephew that actually wants to visit him.

A few hours later the medic approaches his cell again, she enters his cell. Itachi is sleeping again with his back turned to her, but is fully aware of her entrance. But today he doesn't feel like being checked up. He is going to die anyway, and nobody will rescue him from it.

Why? Why can't he just accept his fate and stay calm? No, he has already found out that he cannot. He keeps feeling the emptiness and the horrifying need to stay alive. The absolute wish to be saved. He has never felt like this before. He has never felt... this scared. He had always used his fear to be alert and made it useful. But he could not make this fear useful, he couldn't use it. He was trapped with it. It was as if after the torturing he never quiet healed. His wounds were almost healed, only his back hurted, but somehow he got inner wounds. Something that never happened before. Inner wounds that could not be healed... ever.  
The man couldn't stand it, he couldn't stand being in this state. Helpless... wishing to be saved, knowing that nobody would.

He is startled when a soft hand touches his shoulder. ''Uchiha-san...'' she tries to wake him.

_Why is she being so formal._

''Uchiha-san...'' she pushes his shoulder again. ''Itachi?'' He opens his eyes and turns his head. ''Another check up? Give it up medic, I'm already dead.''

Sakura straightens her back and puts her hands to her sides. ''In a bad mood, are we?'' The Uchiha doesn't respond. The pink haired medic is annoyed by that.

''Uchiha Itachi, sit up straight. Now!'' she raises her voice. ''Trust me, you don't know what a bad mood is until you meet mine.'' Itachi smirks, but doesn't let the medic see it. ''Alright.'' he whispers. He does as she told him to, he sits up. The medic pushes a strand of pink hair behind her ear and smiles softly.

''That's better. How come you're so grumpy? Didn't get your sleep?'' she asks absent-mindedly as she writes something down in her notebook. Itachi looks down at his bare feet and his gaze travels up his legs, watching the torn black pants. He dislikes being so bare all the time.

''No, I didn't. There was a little boy interrupting me.'' Sakura looks at him. ''What boy?''

Before Itachi answers, he decides not to tell her everything. He decides not to let het know that he knows that the boy is Sasuke's. Just to see how she will react. ''His name is Shin. He reminds me of someone. Tell me... is he yours?'' She almost drops the notebook and looks at him surprised. But then a sad smile plays her lips. ''No, he's not.''

Itachi watches her with interest, and she notices him doing so. ''Ah.''

His deep voice causes some shivers to run up her spine. They are quiet for a few moments, just looking at each other. Sakura wonders why he is looking at her like that. In order to shrug off the awkward moment, she says: ''Please stand up, I want to hear you breathing again.'' Itachi doesn't respond and doesn't move a muscle. He just keeps looking at her.

''You might have strained a musle near your left lung. If it is, you might get some trouble breathing. Have you already felt something?''

''Why do you keep treating me as a patient. You are being too friendly, or don't you recognize me?'' His voice is harsh and sounds almost rude, confronting her with the way she acts around him. The medic shuts her mouth and gives him a dark look. He cocks his head.

''Tell me, why do you keep treating me so nicely, even when I destroyed your teammates life? I killed the entire Uchiha-clan. I'm the biggest enemy of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. I-''

''I know perfectly well who you are. Don't treat me as if I'm some silly goose.'' she snaps, the prisoner shuts up. ''I know that you want to capture Naruto and do something to him that will kill him. I know that you destroyed Sasuke's life and made him to what he is now. I know that!'' She stamps to the door of his cell, her lips pressed together in anger.

_But another part of me cannot stand to watch caged birds..._

She leaves the cell without an explanation. She nearly runs out of Itachi's sight. Images of a wounded Itachi come into her head. The horrible wounds, blood and bones. Images of his eyes full of life, red with the spinning wheel. Dangerous yes, but so alive. They were like that when they captured him, when they brought him in. She was there when they brought his knocked-down body to her. She was there when he woke up and when they drugged him.

But now she only sees those black dull eyes. Both empty, both hollow, meaningless. Life has been sucked out of them.  
Cheerful birds that are captured, turn into timide housepets. They lose their pureness, they lose their wild hearts. They lose themselves. Their spirits die, and their locked bodies become a prison to them. And she sees it happening, she can only watch. From the moment they had started drugging and torturing the Uchiha, she saw his eyes becoming dull. She saw the poor bird being captured and caged. Locked away.  
Even though he has done terrible things, her own wild heart could never stand those heartrending dull eyes of him.

* * *

**Hope you liked it!**

**REVIEWSSSS!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hellohellohello**

**First of all, I want to apologize for not updating in a very long time.**

**Second I was really surprised to see that some of you really wanted to know about shin's mother... well actually... It's not that important so I wasn't really planning on mentioning it unless you truly and badly want me to.**

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

''Sakura-san, Sakura-san!''

A very annoyed Sakura stops in her tracks, as a young jounin runs after her. She turns around and gives the boy a deathglare for disturbing her when she was just about to visit a patient. ''What?'' she snaps.

''Err, Ibiki-san asked me to look for you. He wants to speak with you as soon as possible. He's in the hokage building this afternoon. So you can visit him anytime.''

''Noon? So that means that I have to sacrifice my lunchbreak, because HE needs to speak with ME As. Soon. As. Possible.?''

''Ano, yes. No wait! I mean- '' the boy starts to get red.

''Haihai! You can go now.''

''Yes Ma'am!'' he runs for it. Sakura walks through a corridor of the hospital. Her white coat rushing after her as she quickens her pace. Closing her eyes in annoyance, she pushes those stubborn locks behind her ear. She holds her notebook in her hand, squeezing it a bit too tight. Sakura knew why she was grumpy, but she just had a hard time admitting it to herself. She was angry with that cocky Uchiha. Damn, even while being in prison he managed to piss her off. Anyway, she was getting way too close to that bastard. That's why...

With her free hand she pushes a door open. A bit too forceful as it crashes against the wall. A brown haired girl behind a desk nearly gets a heart-attack and stands up as fast as she can. ''Goodmorning, Haruno-sama.'' the girl yells cheerfully.

''Shut up Mei!''

''Hai!'' the girl bows humbly.

''I have an assignement for you.'' Sakura slams the door shut. It's hinges break and the door falls apart behind Sakura. Mei dares to cast a horrified look at the broken door in her bow-position.

''Stand up, you fool! You want me to break your desk too?''

''No, Haruno-sama!'' She stands up straight, her hands shaking in fear, her whole body tensed up.

''Listen...'' Sakura calms herself down after realizing how much she started to resemble the fifth and runs a hand through her hair. Mei exhales in relief. ''There is a patient I want you to look after. He is a prisoner, an extraordinary one. He's very dangerous, so don't do anything stupid. You know the procedure that goes for highly rated criminals?'' Mei nods and looks at her chief with interest as said places the notebook on the desk.

''His name is Uchiha Itachi, here is all the information about him. I'd say, especially since you are still inexperienced, try not carry anything with you. Just a pencil and a stetiscope. Do not have any physical contact with him unless truly necesarry and don't talk about any personal stuff, Mei. These things are very important. He can be very dangerous.''

''Yes, I understand.'' Mei smiles excitedly and blinks with her big brown eyes and pretty long eyelashes. Sakura's brow raises and she sighs deeply. She turns around again and slowly walks to the door. ''Oh and Mei...'' The girl looks up from the notebook. Sakura's back still turned towards her.

''No flirting.'' Sakura speaks with dark tone, and then kicks the broken door out of her way. She walks out of the room, leaving a frightened Mei behind.

Itachi is sitting on the floor, bare back leaning against the cold iron bars. He runs a hand through his half short anf half long hair and sighs deeply. Feeling bored, he starts ticking a rhythm with his fingers against the bars. He lets his mind wonder off to his last conversation with the medic. He had pushed her to where she didn't want to go. But strangely enough, at that moment he had just felt like provoking her. Wanting to get a different reaction out of her than that calmness she always shows him.

That calmness that could calm him down.

She had given him that reaction, but somehow he got the idea that she wouldn't be visiting him anymore. He ruined it, he messed up. It's already noon and she didn't stop by yet. He couldn't exactely put his finger on it, but somehow he disliked the idea of not being able to see her again. The idea of not being taken care off by her anymore.

Itachi sighs again and walks to his bed. He notices that his health has gotten a lot better. Right now, in this moment, he feels more strength inside him than he has felt in a very long time. He knows why. Today he needs to get drugged again, so the fact that he feels stronger probably has to do with the fact that the drug is almost out of his blood. Itachi pops down on the bed and lies on his back, staring at the ceiling.

He closes his eyes. Sometimes, when he concentrates hard enough, he can almost feel it again. The power, in his eyes. He remembers the way it feels as if he just used them... First you concentrate and send the chakra to your eyes. Then you feel the veins near your eyes getting warm, because that what happens during the doujutsu. Your blood fills the iris. Your eyes feel a bit warmer when that happens. You can feel the connexion between your eyes and your chakra. And then, the pain comes. It only lasts for a second and when you get used to it, it doesn't feel like pain anymore. More like excitement, more like adrenaline. The pains excites you. The pain is caused by the pupil, splitting into four different forms. And when that happens, the world seems to change. You see everything different, everything clearer, sharper. When you look at a moving object, you see it ten times better than usual. As if you're watching it in slowmotion. And then, without any order or without any permission, the wheel starts spinning. You can't see it, only feel it. The wheel copies the movement and then...

Oh how he longs to feel the wheel spinning again. How he longs to feel that power again. That incredible power.

_Amaterasu..._

Itachi opens his eyes slowly and for a miniscule second, a red tint fills his black eyes. If only he would have noticed.

Sakura visits five patients and discharges some during the morning. She helps one more patient by fixing a broken arm, before deciding to go visit Ibiki. The medic leaves instructions and takes her lunch along as she exits the hospital. Eating her sandwich, she takes her time walking to the Hokage building. On her way she sees Ino, and the blondy decides to walk along.

''So how have you been?'' The pinkhaired asks her friend. Ino smiles and says: ''Really good. You know, I still love my job. And things between me and Shikamaru are really going well. You know, the sex is really good!'' Sakura nearly chokes in her bite and starts coughing.

''Here have some water.'' Ino offers her a bottle and Sakura gladly accepts. After drinking some, she takes a few deep breaths.

''Okay, that was too much information for me, Ino. You shouldn't tell me about him! I know what Shikamaru looks like, I just got these images in my head and GOD!''

''Oh, you did? Did we look good?'' Ino jokes. They both laugh and then Ino asks her about her lovelife.

''Well, there is nothing much to tell, you know.''

''Nothing much to tell? I heard Sasuke's back in town.''

Sakura slaps Ino on the back of her head. ''He's married, you dumbass! At least that's what I've heard. Rumours, you know.''

''So? I bet he won't say no against his sexy former-teammate! Have you even had the change to talk to him yet?''

''No not really, I've been kind off busy. Sasuke came in around the same time as Itachi, so...'' Ino starts laughing at her.

''I had to work many hours late, you know!'' Sakura yells, pushing the laughing blonde.

''No that's not what I meant.'' she giggles, continuing : ''If Sasuke doesn't work out for you. There is always... You know.''

Sakura's eyes widen. ''No Ino, no way! He's a criminal! A really bad one!''

''Chill Sakura, I was only kidding.'' Ino slaps Sakura, whose cheeks had turned a bit red. The medic looks from her sandwich to her feet. ''Besides, he will get executed very soon. You know that right?''

Ino stops in her tracks. ''Did Ibiki tell you that?'' Sakura nods and throws away her empty lunchbag.

''Well, I'm not working directly under Ibiki right now Sakura... but I well...''

''What?'' Sakura stops too now and takes a sip from the waterbottle. Ino doesn't continue right away. She pauzes, but then continues:

''I'm sorry, I'm actually not allowed to give you this information.'' Ino's blue orbs tell Sakura that she is being serious. ''Information about Itachi?'' She asks, knowing that with Ino working in the interrogation-squad nowadays, she wasn't allowed to share information with random people.

Ino nods and together they walk into the shade of the flowershop of Ino's mother.

''But maybe you should try to ask Ibiki.''

''Really? I'm meeting him in about five minutes.'' Sakura gives Ino the bottle.

''I have to help out my mom, I'll catch up with you later, okay?''

''Sure. I gotta run too.'' though being completely clueless and curious about what kind of information Ino was holding from her, she accepted it. Rules are rules after all. ''See you!''

Ino goes into the shop and Sakura turns right, now running towards the Hokage building. She storms into the building and immediately spots Ibiki waiting at the reception. ''Ibiki-san!'' she walks towards the counter where the tall man is talking with the receptionist. Said turns around and gives the girl a polite nod.

''Ah, yes Sakura.''

''You wanted to see me?''

''Yes, I see that you're in a better mood than when Ren found you?'' Ibiki jokes.

''Oh that guy! Yeah, tell him I'm sorry for scaring him, I kinda had a thing on my mind.'' She scratches the back of her head, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the way she acted this morning. Ibiki doesn't respond, but turns to the woman behind the counter again. ''I'll be right back. Tell the Hokage I'll be there in about thirty minutes.''

The man in the long leather coat starts walking the stairs, with the medic following him. On the second floor, Ibiki turns left and opens the fifth door on the right. Sakura quietly follows.

''This is Shizune's office, but she told me I could use it.'' Sakura nods, entering the room after Ibiki. The man closes the door and gestures her to sit down. He sits himself down behind Shizune's desk and takes a few quiet moment to put his thoughts into words.

''Sakura, you're not going to like this.''

It's already two o'clock when Mei enters the Uchiha's prisonblock. Mei hesitatingly walks to her patients cell. And for a few seconds she just stands in front of it. She watches the hunched-up figure of the Uchiha on the bed. The blanket covers only half of his body, revealing his bare back to her. Mei swallows as she finds out that she cannot count the scars on his back on two hands. But she convinces herself not to be scared. She quietly and slowly unlocks and opens the celldoor. With shaky legs she steps into the cell and closes the door behind her.

Itachi, who pretends to be sleeping, already knows that it's not the pink-haired medic that just entered. No, that Haruno walks faster, more self-assured and doesn't wear high heels. Unless... The prisoner turns around and sits up halfly. He raises his brow at the figure standing in front of him. Mei smiles shyly at him and bows politely. ''Good afternoon, my name is Mei, and I'm here to give you a check up.''

Itachi's eyes narrow and his head tilts to the left. He watches her from top to toe. Taking in every detail of her. Her high heels, her slender legs underneath her short skirt, her small posture, everything. Suddenly he starts chuckling and sits up fully, feet to the ground, blanket to the side. ''Well Mei, you're prettier than the previous one.'' he watches her intently. Mei blushes. ''T-Thank you, Uchiha-san.''

''So, you're just here to give me a check-up?''

The girl nods nervously ''H-hai!''

Itachi leans a bit back and opens his legs meaningfully. ''Go ahead.''

Sakura exits the building. Leaving Ibiki behind in a room full of broken chairs and bookshelves. Boy, will shizune get angry with him if she sees the mess. Sakura runs through the streets, to the hospital. She was already late. Her lunchbreak had ended twenty minutes ago. She opens the hospital's white doors, anger still visible in her eyes. Sakura runs to the reception.

''Hi, sorry I'm late. Any emergencies, any messages?'' she pants. The woman behind the counter quickly looks into a file.

''No messages. But there was an emergency case. They're in chamber 4, performing Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu.'' Sakura's eyes widen, she snatches the file out of the woman's hands and starts running three stairs up. Chikatsu Saisei? She wonders, what person could have gotten himself that injured to be needing this jutsu? Standing in front of the heavy doors, Sakura pulls off her white coat and throws it on a bench. She opens the heavy iron doors and quickly closes them behind her again. A large green-glowing symbol on the floor enlightens the room. A loud electric sound fills the large chamber. Four people are sitting down on the floor on the symbol's edges, hands pressed together, eyes closed. She recognizes Shizune and a man called Takashi, she's not familiar with the other two. A girl with red hair looks up and shouts: ''Sakura-sama, please switch places with me.''

Said runs towards the girl and with unknown speed, they switch places. The red-haired sits down behind Sakura, resting. As always, Sakura needs herself to get used to the intense feeling the jutsu creates. The four of them are performing a very powerfull medical jutsu, and they can all feel it's power. To be able to perform this jutsu, one needs to have a perfect control of their chakra. Otherwise, the jutsu would just suck it all out.

(Note: For those who don't know what Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu is, it's a medical jutsu which requires a four men-team and a medium to heal a very injured person. It was performed on Neji when he got injured, they used his hair as a medium.)

''Good to see you're here, Sakura-san!'' Takashi shouts. She smiles at him and looks at the person in the middle of the symbol. And as if the red-haired girl can read her thoughts, she says: ''Hyuga Hanabi. She got injured during her training. One of her teammates was practicing throwing knives, when she suddenly passed by. He hit her right above her heart. The girl was lucky.'' Sakura nods and closes her eyes in concentration. The red-haired girl leaves the chamber. Ten minutes later, another medic arrives to replace Takashi. And about fifteen minutes later, a girl named Kare replaces Shizune. Shizune stands weakly and waves at Sakura. After more than 45 minutes, Sakura decides to end the jutsu, since the wound has already healed as much as it could with this jutsu. ''Okay people! Time to stop. On three. One, two, three.'' they all part their hands. The electric sound dies away slowly. Sakura is the first one to stand and approaches the girl in the center. She kneels down and takes a look at the wound.

''Thank you for the hard work, Haruno-sama!'' the other three bow. Sakura nods. Even though Sakura is only 20 years old, everyone always treats her with the respect she deserves. Her hard work had caused her to be in the same rank as Shizune.

''You may leave. Tell Takashi that the wound looks good and that she's stable. Oh, and send someone in to transfer her.''

''Hai.'' they leave.

Sakura closes the doors of the now empty chamber. She sighs deeply and snaps her neck. While pulling on her white coat, the red-haired girl approaches her. ''It was great working with you, Haruno-sama.'' Sakura smiles tiredly. ''Indeed. What's your name?''

''Tanaka Akae.'' Akae hands her Hyuga Hanabi's file.

''You did a good job there Tanaka-san. The switching was flawless. I'll be looking forward working with you again.'' Akae smiles happily. ''Me too, Haruno-sama.'' Sakura passes the girl and leaves for her office. On her way to her office, she coincidental walks past Mei, who is talking to two other young medics. Though not being interested in them, she can't help herself overhearing their conversation as she passes by.

''You should definitely go see him! He's so nice and... sexy. Unlike the rumours go, he isn't dangerous at all.'' Mei excitedly speaks. A blond girl respons: ''But you said they tortured Itachi, right? Because he has information about Akatsuki. Did he tell them anything usefull?'' Sakura's eyes widen and she stops in her tracks.

''Well, I...''

''Mei! You're not doing what I think you are doing, are you?'' Mei turns around and is obviously startled by Sakura. ''Haruno-sama! No! I... I... What?''

Sakura takes a step closer to Mei. ''Why am I hearing you talk about the patient I assigned you to with other girls, Mei?'' Sakura's very angry, and her eyes show that too well.

''Oh, Uh, I didn't know.. that..''

''You know the fucking procedure! Read the notes! I gave you this case with an obligation of confidentiality!'' Sakura had been angry all day. A lot of annoying and bad things had happend, and this was just the last straw. Some people in the hallway stop in their tracks to look at Sakura and Mei with interest. Mei's eyes grow big and her cheeks turn a bit red.

''I'm so sor-''

''You're off this case!'' Sakura slams her fist to the wall, making a small crack in it. She looks at the other girls, who quickly take a few steps back.

''And you'd better shut up about anything this retard told you, or else!'' she shouts and with a last dirty look at Mei, she walks away. People stare at her, but she doesn't care. Behind her, she hears Mei crying. She doesn't give a fuck. It's her job as authority to make sure that girls like Mei don't do things like she just did. And Sakura felt very sure of it that Mei or any of those girl wouldn't make that same mistake twice. All information about that Uchiha was to stay secret.

After writing a few things down in Hyuga Hanabi's file, Sakura leaves her office. She goes to the next room, into Shizune's office. ''Shizune, it's six o'clock, I'm going home now. Here's the Hyuga file. May I suggest that you'll be the one to talk to Hyuga Hiashi. I can't deal with him right now.''

''Sure, it's fine. I see you tomorrow Sakura.'' Sakura waves and leaves. As Sakaru exits the hospital tiredly, she thinks:

_Tomorrow... I'll visit that bastard again._

* * *

**Hope you liked it.**

**I know there weren't many Itasaku moments, but there will be in the next chapter.**

**I just needed to put in some other moments for the story. **

**And hey look: The chapter's already this long!**

**REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh my Gosh... What's this?**

**A quick update? **

**(Thank you, Sadbird for your idea)  
Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter four:**

_So this one can be manipulated...?_

Itachi is standing on top of his bed, staring out of the open window with bars. The man watches the green trees. He takes a deep breath, smelling the forest once again after a longlasting storm. He had enjoyed the sound of the raindrops and the thunder in the distance all night. But that wasn't the only thing that caused him to be in such a good mood this early morning. No, something was different today. A smile plays his lips and he sits down on his bed again. His head rests against the wall, dark locks move in front of his eyes. But not even Itachi's half short hair can ruin his mood today.

It has been a week since he moved in this prison after that dungeon. But it feels like a lot longer. Itachi examines his body. There are still not-completely healed wounds on his upperleg and neck. Also, he could still feel some cramp in his ribs and lungs sometimes, when he wasn't feeling well. But other than that, his broken bones had fully healed and all other wounds had turned into scars. The scars and his pale skin definitely made his body look older. Also, the lines under his eyes made him look far older than just 25. But somehow, today... He felt stronger and younger. Itachi felt a bit like his old self again.

Itachi smiles, while closing his eyes. Now he just waits.

The pink haired medic leaves her small apartment in a rush. Her hair is still wet from showering. The girl and Ino were supposed to have breakfast together, but Sakura was running a bit late. Being ten minutes late, Sakura enters the small restaurant. She quickly walks to their regluar table and humbly apologizes to Ino for being late.

''You're starting to behave exactly like Kakashi, forehead girl!'' Ino complains. Sakura only raises her hands in apology. The blonde looks at the waiter and orders something for them both.

''I have some news for you.'' Ino starts after the waiter gives them their coffee. Sakura looks at the girl over her coffee, wrapping her hands around the mug to warm her hands.

''Shikamaru received a message from Kiba last night. He wrote that their mission is going well. And... that Naruto has finally accepted his leadership!''

Sakura laughs out loud. ''Wow! That's a big step for him!'' Ino agrees with that.

''I wonder what's it like, working in Suna all day. The four of them have been there for like three weeks already.'' Sakura takes a sip of her coffee.

''I know I wouldn't like it. The weather there is crazy, with sandstorms all the time! Kiba also wrote that Hinata and Lee don't really like working for Gaara. They think he's cocky and too agressive.'' Ino grins.

''Poor them.'' Sakura responds, as the waiter brings them their rice, bread and vegetables. They chat about Sakura's work and Ino's relationship and then decide to part. Ino has an appointment with the fifth and Sakura has an early shift in the hospital again.

Once Sakura gets there, she can already hear the gossips. As Sakura passes some nurses at the reception, she can hear two names: Haruno and Mei. She ignores it. Working for more than two years in the hospital caused her not to pay the slightest attention to the many gossips. They love it here, they love to gossip.

Pulling on her good old white coat, Takashi approaches her from behind. The goodlooking, brown haired man taps her on the shoulder.

''Goodmorning Takashi-san!'' Sakura says after turning around. He smiles at her.

''Morning Haruno. Can you please check on Hyuga Hanabi for me? Shizune-san needs me in the lab today.''

Takashi has the same rank as Shizune and Sakura. The man is an extremely talented medic, just like her and Shizune. Sakura had worked many times with the man during her education. They both start walking the stairs. ''Sure, I'll do it right away.''

''Thanks.'' Takashi gives Sakura the Hyuga file and goes left where Sakura turns right. Sakura opens the door to Hyuga Hanabi's room and is surprised to see Hyuga Neji standing at Hanabi's bed.

''Goodmorning!'' she speaks to Neji, since Hanabi is still sleeping. Neji turns towards her and shakes hands with her. He watches her intently with his white eyes.

''Goodmorning Sakura-san. I was actually expecting to see Shizune-san since my uncle spoke to her yesterday.''

Sakura walks to the side of the bed and checks the monitor. ''I know. I asked her to. Not that I'm Hanabi's doctor, Matsumoto Takashi is. But he is needed elsewhere today.''

She writes something down in Hanabi's file and looks at the girl. Her long brown hair is messy and sticking to her forehead after an apparently feverish night. Neji sits down in the chair next to the bed and watches Sakura carefully.

''My uncle asked me to pick up Hanabi.'' he starts, wondering if the medic heard him, since she doesn't respond right away. She doesn't even look at him. Neji's head cocks to the left as he sees Sakura roll up her sleeves. Sakura carefully cuts the bandages around Hanabi's chest away with a green chakra-filled finger. She removes the cloths and examines the wound. It's still open, but there is no bleeding. Luckily the new flesh, created by the medium, hadn't died during the night. Sakura inserts some of her chakra to find out if there's any sort of infection. During the infection-examination, Hanabi wakes up.

''Hyuga Hanabi, can you hear me?'' Sakura speaks calmly, but keeping her eyes fixed on the wound.

The second Sakura says those words, Neji is out of the chair. He leans over the bed to look at his young cousin. His untied long hair falls over his shoulder. Hanabi slowly nods, her white eyes are half lidded. She doesn't seem to notice that Neji is there. Suddenly Sakura withdraws her hand, feeling no infection.

''Neji-san, she needs stay one more day, the wound is too fresh. We can't start closing it yet with shallow-healing- jutsu's, because the body still needs to get used to the new tissue.''

He looks at Hanabi, slowly nodding. He knows exactly what Sakura means, since he has experienced it himself a long time ago.

''But you can tell your uncle that he can visit her anytime.'' She winks at him, causing him to smile. After Sakura writes down some last notes about Hanabi, they shake hands again.

''Thank you Sakura-san. I'll write Hinata-san about your good care.'' He says with his soft but clear voice. Sakura smiles.

''Send her my regards. I'll check on Hanabi's wound again this afternoon, before I leave.'' With that she turns around and leaves the room. In the hallway, Sakura passes a scared looking Mei. But Sakura ignores her, not even thinking about looking her in the eye. Sakura nervously pushes her short hair behind her ear as she's on her way to her second patient that day: Uchiha Itachi.

Only when he hears footsteps he opens his eyes. He has been waiting for more than two hours like this. His eyes closed, sitting on top of his bed, leaning against the wall, waiting in complete silence. He recognizes the footsteps, but he wonders why it her again this time.

Sakura appears in front of his cell, not looking at him as friendly as she did before their last conversation. No, her look contains something mean. Her green eyes are slightly narrowed, cold and her lips a bit pressed together. He watches her, he doesn't even attempt to get ready for the check-up. He keeps sitting very still, knees bend and pulled up to his chest. He watches her with a smile on his lips. When she closes the celldoor behind her, he starts speaking, making her freeze.

''Before we start, I would like to ask you a question.'' his voice sounds a bit deeper usual, but she doesn't pay any attention to it. She leans against the irons bars, crossing her arms over her chest, giving him permission to speak by just remaining quiet.

''Back when you healed me for the first time, you spoke to me. You asked me why I didn't give them any information. After that, you said that I would safe myself a lot of pain.'' he pauses, eyes never leaving hers. ''Why?''

He watches her intently, eyes wide open. He observes her whole body. Her expression, her body-language, everything. Sakura didn't expect him to ask her such a personal question, she didn't even know the answer herself. So she doesn't respond, she just looks him in the eyes, noticing that he looks at her in a different way. The look in his eyes seems sharper, more alive, more... powerful? Perhaps it's because of his good health. She sighs impatiently.

''Was it part of Ibiki's interrogation? Did he ask you to do so, in order to give me a false hope or a wrong idea about my safety?'' The girl doesn't need to think about that. She already knows that answer, but she can't see the reason behind the questions he is asking. She's getting tired of this weird atmosphere, she dislikes the fact that she can't see where he's heading to.

''No. I did it because I wanted to.'' she responds coldy. She would never help Ibiki with his interrogation. She would never give an injured person false hope, she would never play along with Ibiki's sick games. Itachi puts his feet down and stands, strangely more flexible than usual she notices. An evil smirk plays his lips.

''I'll let you live then.''

Her breath hitches, her eyes grow big. ''W-what?'' And then she sees something horrible. Itachi gets a very dark expression. Sakura's heart skips a beat when his black eyes, which had already seemed more alive to her than usual, turn scarlet.

Blood fills Itachi's eyes, feeling the warmth. He feels the exciting pain when his pupil splits. He feels the connexion between his chakra and his eyes. The world changes, everything looks sharp again. He's back. Uchiha Itachi, the prodigy, is back.

She clenches the iron bars behind her, but already knows it's futile. She has already looked directly into the Sharingan. Darkness creeps over her as Itachi captures her in an illusion, in a genjutsu. Itachi watches the girl in front him collaps to her knees. His eyes are stinging badly. And since his chakra hasn't fully recovered, his body and mind are having a hard time creating the gen-jutsu. This illusion can't be compared to one created by the Mangekyou, but it's still a highly-advanced one. He feels very content with the way things are turning out.

Sakura is in complete darkness. No light, no sounds, no ground beneath her feet. She falls, she falls endlessly as if there is no end to it. She falls into nowhere, into nothing. Her insides feel fragile and weak. She tries to scream, but no sound is able to leave her throat. Thoughts run through her mind, as the horrible feelings of constant falling slowly drives her insane.

_Where is he? I can't see...!_

_I'll let you live then._

_WHERE is he?_

_You didn't truly believe that they'd only given me two more days?_

_I'm so sorry, Sakura..._

_HELP ME!_

Itachi watches her with interest, as she starts screaming. Her eyes are closed, but tears are leaking out of them, running down her cheeks. He slowly walks to her and kneels next to her.  
How long has it been since anyone screamed for him? How long has it been since he saw his last victim cry? The Uchiha can't help feeling attracted to her, especially in this situation. With her being unable to see or hear him, and with him being in complete power. Her life is in his hands now. Now he can shamelessly admire her. Now he can finally watch her, smell her, touch her. He watches her expression, her fine features, her pale skin, her pink lips.

He wipes a tear away with his thumb and takes a pink lock between his fingers. A painful expression find it's way to her face. He slowly runs his hand through her pink locks as he deactivates his painful Sharingan. A tear of blood runs leaks out of his eye, but he roughly wipes it off.

It feels like someone is squeezing her throat. She starts to hyperventilate and attempts to scream again. She can still hear nothing, not a single thing. Sakura feels oppressed in the chest and her body starts shaking. Fear squeezes her heart painfully. That horrible darkness, that soundlessness, the falling, the thoughts. She can't think straight, she can't keep her mind clear, she doesn't know what to do. She'll definitely go insane.

Pure depending on instinct now, her shaky hand reaches inside the pocket of her coat. Even after being trapped in an illusion where nothing is real, she still knows that the coat she is feeling is truly real. Despite of her panicking mind and the complete darkness, Sakura manages to grab her pencil. And then, with a big motion and a lot more force than necessary she stabs the pencil deeply into her leg. Penetrating her muscle, painfully ripping it.

Itachi's eyes widen and with a quick motion, he stands. In a second the darkness vanishes and Sakura's back in the cell again. Her green eyes are stinging cause of the sudden light and after that long feeling of falling, she is very disorientated. With unknown speed, Itachi reaches for the celldoor. But as he opens it, Sakura jumps up and throws herself at him with all her weight. She loses her balance way too quick.

They both fall down hard on the ground and roll over. Sakura starts screaming for help, her voice sounding too loud for her own ears. Itachi quickly rolls over her and tries to stand, but she pulls him down again with her shaky hands, digging her nails into his skin.

Itachi rams his elbow onto her chest and tries to stand again. And that's what it takes to draw the beast out of her. Sakura grunts in pain as all air escapes from her lungs. She watches Itachi's expression, he looks emotionless, just like when he came in first. At first she didn't want to use violence against him, but now that he has punched her, she couldn't care less.

He tries to get away again. This is a battle of speed, she realizes. The one that's quickest wins. He needs to get through that door as quickly as possible, and she needs to prevent that. With her strength. With her monstrous strength she will never let him. With her inhuman power, she grabs his arm and pulls him to her. Itachi tries to perform a seal with one hand, but this time she's faster.

She slams her fist into his face. The girl feels bones breaking, but doesn't hold back. Itachi flies back against the stone wall, cracks appear in it. Sakura uses this time to get up, but doesn't scream for help. No, he hurted her and now she's way too angry to stop. She is too angry to let him get away with a just simple punch in the face.

''So this is what I get?''

A lot of blood runs down Itachi's face as he stands again. He feels an unbearable pain all over his face. He already knows that she broke his cheekbone. With a lot of effort and pain, he manages to grunt with a low voice: ''Get out of my way, medic.''

Sakura's grits her teeth. Her fists are clenched, her eyebrows frowned in anger. Itachi watches the girl stand right in front of the door, blocking his way. He takes a fighting position, which only seems to anger her more. Sakura reaches out her hand and with a soft pull, but with a lot of noise, she rips an iron bar out. She madly throws it at Itachi, but he easily dodges. She only did it to intimidate him, to show him her anger. To show him what he had just triggered. It DOES interest him how a small girl like her could have such an inhuman strength. But this isn't the time to figure that out, he realizes.

He needs to get out. He needs to free himself from being locked away. Itachi needs to get back to Akatsuki, to continue his plans, so that his existence will never be erased. Never!

With two quick steps he is in front of her. And since the cell is too small, there is no way Itachi can go around her. He feels dizzy because of the blow she just gave him. His body had weakened too much during his stay in Konoha. Normally he could have taken such a blow. Normally he could have dodged it. Normally he would've been a lot quicker and stronger than the girl in front of him. But not now, not in this condition. Sakura grabs a hand full of hair and pulls his head down to hers.

''Itachi...'' she whispers in his ear. ''Meet MY bad mood.''

She hits his head again, this time with less force. But Itachi still loses consciousness, he collapses to the floor. A still very angry Sakura leaves the cell and slams the door shut, not even thinking about locking it. She wraps her arm around her stomach.

After leaving the cellblock, Sakura heads for the prison's chief. Once she finds the old man, she tells him what happened. The chief's eyes widen and he quickly orders four guards to go to Itachi's cell. He nervously starts picking his large moustache.

''Don't worry, there is no error in your prison. This mistake was all mine.'' The girl rubs her painful stomach. She fears an internal bleeding.

''I suggest you get him a medic.'' she speaks coldly as she walks passed him, wanting to leave the prison as soon as possible.

''Excuse me, Haruno-san. But aren't you here?'' the chief asks her politely, opening the door for her. Sakura looks over her shoulder.

''I won't do it. I won't lay a finger on him anymore.''

* * *

**REVIEW DAMMIT!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Haha okay here it is!**

**Obviously this story won't be a very long one, but perhaps there will be a sequel. **

**It all depens on how the story ends, doesn't it?=P**

* * *

_**Chapter 5:**_

_I'll never fall, got it?_

''Yes, he's conscious.'' a soft voice reaches his ears. He hears footsteps die away, leaving his cell. He is still in his cell right? He groans at how badly head hurts. He squeezes his eyes shut tightly, and tries not to move. ''Uchiha-san, you have a concussion.'' he doesn't respond. The voice sounds new to him, he realizes it's not her. Not her... Strangely he feels slightly disappointed. He remembers what happened and opens his eyes slowly. He wonders if he's still in his prison. It seems he is. He watches the hands, lingering over his head, glowing of green chakra. The man then watches their owner: red hair and brown eyes, looking at his face through glasses. He shuts his eyes again and whimpers as the new assigned medic repairs his broken cheekbone.

After some time, she helps him sit up and guides him to the bed. She gently covers him under a warm blanket. The girl then bends over him to watch an old, not-completely healed wound in his neck. Her long fingernail scrapes over it's crust. He hisses and turns away. The girl looks him in the eyes, observing his reactions. She then withdraws her hand and in a few quick motions, her skilled hands wrap some bandages around his neck. The red haired girl then straightens her back again and momentarily examines the sitting Uchiha. He checks the newly wrapped bandages. Suddenly she chuckles softly, the prisoner gaze shoots up at her. He eyes her carefully.

''I heard rumours about Haruno-sama's insane strength, but I've never seen one of her victims before. You shouldn't have angered her.'' With that she turns around. Itachi cocks his throbbing head to the side. This medic seems very different from that foolish Mei-girl. He watches her also from top to toe as she walks towards the door. She is wearing a black khaki pants and scandels. Her white medic coat seems a bit too long for her. So she wears one too? Just like his pink haired medic always does. She looks different, more serious, but perhaps he could make her forget to drug him as well.

''What is your name?'' he tests her, just like the previous one. She doesn't turn around, she just opens the celldoor and locks it again. But then she looks at him through the bars. ''It's not necesarry for you to know. Good day, Uchiha-san.'' she smiles friendly but businesslike. With a calm pace, very unlike that nervous Mei, she leaves the prisonblock. Itachi smirks. _So she picked a smarter one this time?_

He knew then that trying to escape by using the girl would not be an option anymore. Instantly, the smirk disappears from his face as he watches the ironbars. The one Sakura had pulled out had been replaced. His thoughts go back to their little fight. The prisoner had angered her yet again. He hadn't wanted things to turn out like this, but escaping seemed more important to him at that moment. He truly would have let her live. If only she hadn't attacked him... Without second thoughts he had hit her, hard. He'd go over dead bodies to get out of here, he'd kill anyone. Except...

He rubs his temples and lies down. He had felt so good back then, being in complete power. Having a victim of his powerful eyes in front of him again. He had felt so powerful, like his old self. And now, they'd drugged him again. Taking the Sharingan away from him yet again, stealing it from him. The prisoner's hand moves into his black hair. He keeps seeing her face as he closes his eyes. He remembers the way her skin felt, the way she smelled. He can't seem to forget. He can't seem to forget... her? Though it's only noon, the man feels tired. Exhaustion causes him drift off quickly.

Sakura pushes herself through the doors of the hospital and stumbles her way inside. Her face is blanc. The whole scene repeats itself in her head over and over again. Her heart is still racing in her small chest. Though, she's bracing her stomach, she fails to notice her deadly pale face. After leaving the prison, she had run into Akae and asked her to take care of the unconscious Uchiha. The red haired girl had immediately accepted. She limps foreward.

''Haruno-san!'' two young medic yell from the hallway and start running to her. She looks tiredly at them, but then someone behind the counter draws her attention too. A nurse behind the counter waves with a file and gestures her to come quickly. She watches her too for a second. Strangely, at the exact same time, Neji approaches her from the left and asks her probably something about Hanabi. Sakura isn't really listening.

''Sakura, where were you? I needed to ask you...'' Takashi joins Neji and tells her something about... she cannot hear it. Suddenly everyone seems to talk to her at the same time. Suddenly everyone seems to approach her, to suffocate her. Incredible heat. A sweatdrop runs down her temple. She stares into the distance, the nurse is still madly waving with that file. _Emergencies have first priority. _

''Hanabi woke up, she wanted me to go look for you.'' she can't... She can hear him yes, but it doesn't reach her. She can't focus. Everything spins. What's next? Everything turns, the lights are too bright for her eyes. What's her second priority? Her leg bleeds badly. Adrenaline is still numbing the pain, that's why she forgot to heal herself.

''Haruno-sama? Can you please take a look.'' a medic stands directly in front of her, craving for her attention. Even Sakura's lips turn white and her vision blurs.

''Shizune-san and I made progress in the lab today, we have to...'' She blinks a few times and holds her head. The heat is suffocating her. They are suffocating her.

''N-neji-san... Hanabi...'' the girl sighs deeply, holding her head. Did those words come from her lips? She can't hear anymore, dizziness takes over. She feels nauseous and her eyes widen.

''Haruno, there is an emergency!''

''Please, look at this!''

''I...'' she starts, but doesn't continue. Instead she coughs hard and amounts of blood leave her mouth as she does. One of the medics in front of her cries out in fear and drops all the paperwork she was holding. The fury red trails run down Sakura's chin, as a choking sound leaves her throat. The girl bleeds on the papers. She feels like vomitting. Everything spins even faster. Her vision turns black.

''Out of my way!'' someone yells. Sakura clutches her stomach and falls to her knees. The medics in front of her quickly takes a few steps back. Sakura falls to her side and screams in pain, her pink hair covering her face. Takashi is instantly by her side. ''Sakura, what's wrong? Are you sick? What happened to your leg?'' he looks at her leg worriedly. The pencil is still sticking out of it. But the girl can't talk anymore, she just screams, holding her painful stomach. Takashi watches her clutching hands and tries to flip her on her back. But Sakura pulls her knees up tight, making the man unable to. Every muscle in her body tightens painfully. She heaves.

''Byakugan.'' Neji kneels behind the girl and restrains her. Takashi quickly turns her over. ''There seems to be something wrong in her chest.'' he mumbles, chakra veins visible on his face. In the meantime Takashi pulls out the pencil, Sakura screams again.

''Internal bleeding.'' Neji warns and momentarily they look at each other. Then Takashi nods. ''Take her!'' Neji puts his arms under her back and knees and stands. Takashi leads the way as Neji easily runs after him. Sakura eyes roll and her head falls back. The contrast between the blood on her chin and lips and her pale skin looks scaring. With his Byakugan still activated, his looks at the girl's chest. ''Her bloodpressure dropped badly.''

Sakura's eyes close and when she opens them again, Takashi's face is hovering over her, as he heals her... wound? ''Where am I?'' she asks, trying to moisten her lips. Her voice sounds weak. ''You're in the hospital.'' another voice answers. She looks tp her left side and sees that it's Neji.

''Don't move.'' Takashi halts her when she tries to touch her stomach with her hands. ''What happened?'' she wonders out loud. Takashi frowns. ''You tell us. All we know is that you walked in here with a hole in your leg and that you suddenly fell down, coughing blood. Is there something else we should know?''

Even though feeling weak, Sakura smiles at her sarcastic colleague. ''I was in prison for a patient of mine. And... I don't know what happened, but he suddenly attacked me with a powerful genjutsu. I had to break free.'' She moves her leg and Takashi nods encouraging. ''Go on.''

''We fought and I managed to overpower him, but he hit me somewhere... I can't really remember. I think he used chakra for that.'' she coughs again, but luckily there's no blood this time. ''Judging your organs, I'm pretty sure he did. He hit you in the chest, but your stomach is damaged as well. Some of your intestins were slightly ripped. It's a miracle that you were able to walk after such a blow.''

Neji left the room for a few moments, but then returned with a glass of water. He puts it on the cupboard next to the bed. Sakura's thoughts go back to the fight. An image of his crimson eyes appears in her mind. _How did he... _And suddenly realization strikes her again. He had used his Sharingan, and in order for him to create it, he needs chakra. Her eyes widen and she mentally slaps her forehead at remembering. Thinking logical it's the only solution. It's the only way how he managed to get that small amount of chakra. ''Mei forgot to drug him.'' she grits her teeth in frustration.

Takashi looks at her. ''What, Hayashi Mei? That new girl?'' Sakura nods and closes her eyes in annoyance. ''How could she just forget?'' he asks softly. Sakura then reveals to him that she had been treating Uchiha Itachi. He looks at her shortly with wide eyes, but then continues healing her. She explains that the girl probably forgot to drug Itachi. Or... that he made her forget?

''It's my fault.''

''No, it's not! This will have severe consequences for her. Not for you.''

''I sure hope so.'' He retreats his hands and helps her sit up. Her stomach still feels sore, but at least the nausea is gone. Takashi healed the wound on her leg too, she realizes. Luckily that pain is nearly gone too. ''Thank you Takashi.'' she looks at him. ''Really.''

The man places a hand on her shoulder. ''You should get some rest. Genjutsu's are heavy for the mind, especially when they're created by the Sharingan. If you excuse me now, I'm going to check on Hanabi. Hyuuga-san can you please stay with her until I return?'' Neji, sitting comfortably in a chair near the bed, responds: ''Alright.'' He watches Sakura for a moment, his eyes of course deactivated again. ''You have an interesting chakra-circulation. Your chakra-veins are actually very detailed. Do all medics of your rank have that?''

''I guess so.'' she gives him a small smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. Her eyes reveal tiredness and worry. She then watches the Hyuuga carefully. ''You were one of the Anbu that captured him, weren't you? Uchiha Itachi that is.'' Neji shifts a bit in his chair and then nods.

''I've been wondering for quite some time now... How did you manage to capture him?'' Neji scratches his chin for a second. He answers: ''He was very injured already when we got to him. You know, Naruto, Shikamaru, Lee and I just returned from an Anbu-mission. It was near the hidden Waterfall village where we saw some bloodstains on the ground in that large forest. So we decided to follow the trace. And much to our surprise, it led us to him.''

Sakura reaches for the glass of water and takes a few sips. ''Was he still conscious when you found him?'' Neji places his fingers on his temple as if he had a hard time remembering. ''Yes he was, we actually had a lot of trouble capturing him. Do you remember that Lee came in with all those burnmarks on his face and that Shikamaru nearly had his leg chopped off?'' The girl nods. ''I do.''

''Naruto and I managed to knock him unconscious and then we noticed his own injuries. He had a dislocated shoulder-''

''A fatal wound in his stomach and four shuriken in his back?'' she finishes his sentence. He looks up and smiles at her. ''That's right, I forgot you were the one who treated him when we came in.'' Sakura finishes her glass of water. Both remain silent for a while. Sakura looks at her leg and then rolls up the hem of her shorts a bit. She watches the just-healed wound, the scar tissue is coloured red. A sign which tells her to treat her leg gently. She sighs deeply at remembering how scared she was during that jutsu. The frightening darkness, that horrible feeling of constant falling...

''Are you... ok?'' neji speaks softly and stands. His observes her expression carefully. Sakura bites her lowerlip. ''I just didn't expect him to...'' she bites her lip harder.

''Expect him to do... what?'' He approaches her and stops right in front of her. Her bare knees touch his upperlegs. She clenches her fist. ''He used his fucking sharingan on me! That BASTARD!'' The glass breaks in her hand. It breaks into thousand pieces. Her hand bleeds.

_''Would you? Please?'' she asks._

_''Why?'' _

_''Because I think I might kill her if I have to do it?'' He smiles. ''Alright, alright. But you have be there too. You don't have to say anything, just be at my side, okay?''_

_''Thanks.''_

''Mei, you were put you in charge of patient 8-165, Uchiha Itachi, by Haruno-san?'' The brown haired girl momentarily looks at Sakura, whom is standing next to Takashi. He had taken Mei along to his office where Sakura had already been waiting. She is standing next to him with a new glass of water in her left hand. Her right one is wrapped in bandages.

''Yes, that's correct.'' she answers quietly. The girl's head is hanging low, she squeezes her hands together in front of her, her knuckles turn white. She thinks of the way he had just spoken to her. _''Follow me please, we need to talk.'' _She shivers and already feels that she is in trouble.

''Did you read the notes Haruno-san gave to you?'' Takashi asks again. In front of others, in front of the lower ranked staff, they always called each other by their last names. A formality. The brown haired man's voice sounded business-like. Exactly what Sakura wouldn't be capable of at this moment. She observes the girl. She always wears a thick layer of make up, expensive clothes, high heels, skirts. Her hair always looks shiny. Mei somewhat reminds her of her old self, when she found her appearance more important than her skills. Only Sakura changed at the young age of thirteen. She changed before she even started her medical career. Mei was already eighteen.

''Yes I did. Listen, I know I wasn't supposed to talk about him to others alright! I get that now! It was a mistake!'' the sweet look on her face had disappeared. Her eyebrows are frowned and her hands placed on her hips. Sakura suddenly looks at the white coat the girl is wearing. She wears it with that much confidence. She wears it as if it belongs to her. The pink haired medic resists the urge to yell at her to pull it off. _You have to earn it._

''I'm not talking about that little incident Mei.'' Takashi snaps, not liking the girl's attitude towards her superiors. ''I'm talking about your negligence!'' Her eyes grow big, but she keeps quiet. The man sighs out of irritation when he doesn't get a reaction out of her. But when he opens his mouth to speak, Sakura cuts him off. ''Takashi, the girl doesn't have a single clue of what you're talking about.'' She sounds emotionless, much to her own liking. She managed to say a sentence without losing her coolness. Sakura's eyes penetrate Mei's. Takashi's go from Sakura to Mei.

''Haruno-sama is right. I don't.'' Sakura starts laughing, but it isn't out of joy. She laughs bitterly and somewhat disparaging. She walks to Takashi's desk and puts her glass on it. She leans against the desk and crosses her arms over her chest. Mei's cheeks turn red again. Takashi's anger becomes visible in his dark brown eyes.

''Two days ago, Uchiha Itachi was supossed to get an injection, which makes him uncapable of creating and using any chakra.'' Sakura doesn't listen as he talks angrily to the brow haired girl. She only watches his lips forming the words. ''That was during YOUR shift Mei. In order words... You forgot to drug an S-class criminal, an Akatsuki member, the man that wiped out the entire Uchiha-clan in only one night.'' Said jaw drops, she drops her notebook too. The sound of a notebook hitting the ground fills the office. Her bare legs starts to shake. She places her hands on her face and shakes her head. ''I... I...''

''When Haruno-san visited him a few hours ago, he trapped her in an illusion of his Sharingan. He wounded her badly, Mei. She came in here with crushed organs.'' his voice had turned soft, but the impact of his words didn't decrease. Tears run down Mei's cheeks, her bottomlip trembles. The girl turns around and looks at Sakura. ''I'm so s-sorry, Haruno-sama! I... I didn't-''

''No need to cry over that now, Mei. He's in his cell, he didn't escape. We may all be glad that Haruno-san is not only a brilliant medic, but also a good fighter.'' Sakura's eyes shoot up to her colleague, she watches him with interest. ''Which brings me to you, Hayashi Mei.'' She turns to Takashi again, eyes still big. She sniffs and looks in an almost begging way at the man.

''Haruno-san and I decided that you are not fitted for this job. We therefore end your career in this hospital. I'm sure that Tsunade-sama will agree with us when we send her the report.'' The girl bites her lowerlip, her fists are clenched tightly. But then, suddenly she bows. ''Forgive me.'' She turns around and bows again even deeper. ''Haruno-sama, I apologize for my terrible mistakes.'' She doesn't get up. Sakura however stands and walks past Mei, her white coat rushing after her. When she's at the door, she turns around and looks at the still bending girl. She hasn't moved a muscle.

''I hope you find yourself a new job. One that suits you.'' the superior leaves the office. Takashi's eyes follow her. But without looking back, Sakura goes to her own office. Sitting down and pushing her hair behind her ear, she begins to work on a pile of paperwork. She grins when she sees some blooddrops on a few papers. She grins, even though the situation wasn't funny at all. _Nearly crushed organs... _She scoffs.

After half an hour, Takashi enters her office. ''What the hell are you dong here, silly girl!'' he exclaims and pulls the file she was holding out of her hands. ''I said you needed rest, Haruno! You have had a hole in your leg and ripped organs! Go home!'' Sakura smiles and raises her hands in apology. ''Sorry, I thought that paperwork could do no harm.''

Takashi looks down on her and rolls his eyes. ''Workaholic!'' but then he smiles. A medic enters the room. ''Matsumoto-sama, I have some of your lab-results here and-''

''Great, go ahead Yoshi, I'll be right with you.'' the young man nods to both Takashi and Sakura and leaves again.

''Look what I found.'' Takashi says with a mysterious voice. He drops a notebook ontop of her paperwork. Sakura frowns and picks it up. ''It's Mei's. She dropped it back then. I think you should have it.'' with that he turns around and walks away. Sakura turns a few pages and watches the contents with interest. From the hallway, she hears Takashi call. ''And go home!'' Sakura smiles and shakes her head. That Takashi! Next to being an excellent medic and colleague, he had become a very good friend to her as well.

But the smile instantly disappears from her face when she sees Itachi's name in the notebook. It's surrounded by rings and little hearts. Sakura's eyes widen and she turns another few pages. She leans back in her chair, seeing that his name is not only on one page... It's on almost every single page, next to all Mei's notes about other patients. The green eyed girl closes the book and drops it in her lap. She puts her hands in her short hair and pulls it slightly. ''Stupid...girl.''

Now she realizes how Itachi probably made Mei forget to drug him. The girl had fallen in love with him. She had fallen in love with that prisoner! With a sudden move and a lot more force than necessary, she throws Mei's notebook in the bin next to the door. She slams her fist on her wooden desk. ''Foolish girl...'' She sighs deeply and gets up, organizing all the papers and files into two neat piles. What a stupid girl, to care about a prisoner. And Uchiha Itachi for kami's sake!

But then something hits her. What about herself? Wasn't she caring too much about prisoner 8-165 too? What if he had tried to do the exact same thing to her all along? She still denies to herself that this patient is more important to her than any other. But why is he? Hadn't he been right? He slaughtered the entire Uchiha-clan. He destroyed Sasuke's life. He made him to what he is now. He'd capture Naruto and kill him if he got the chance. Didn't Naruto and Sasuke mean more to her than that criminal? In words and in theory they did, a lot more actually. But in her heart, she seriously started to doubt that statement. The heart cannot be bended to one's will after all...

She gets up and fetches her coat. After signing out at the reception, she heads home.

* * *

**Sorry I ended this chapter at this point. It's just that... the chapter would become way too long if I didn't.**

**I'm also sorry about the fact that there were no exciting moments in this chapter. But I promise you that there will be alot in the next. And I'll update sooner! PROMISED!**

**Hope you liked it.**

**Review dammit!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hm guys, I kinda forgot how old Shin was... did I mention his age before? I hope not. Let's just say he's like... seven years old.**

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

It's early in the morning when the Uchiha's attention is drawn. Drawn to an unusual sound.

''Click, click, click, click...'' his brows lift in surprise while his eyes remain shut. A cool breeze reaches his skin through the barred window.

''Click, click...'' the sound comes nearer. He deeply inhales and then lets out a long sigh. He already knows...

''Click, click, click.'' the sound stops. He already knows what's next, for the sound has stopped right in front of his cell.

''I know you're not sleeping, so stop pretending.'' a voice snaps. He obediently opens his eyes and looks at the girl he had already expected to see: Hayashi Mei. (A/N go sadbird^^)

He doesn't sit up for her, he keeps lying on his back, head only halfly moved to the left. He looks at her as if she only deserves half of his attention. In his opinion... she deserves less. His head slowly turns back to watch the ceiling again, as if finding even the ceiling more interesting than her. Again, he probably did. A blanket covers him up till his waist. He scratches his bare stomach lazily. His stomach muscles, which used to be hard and toned, had turned softer and flattened due to his lack of exercise. Even now, he still needed to get used to his body getting weaker and weaker by the day. If they'd only allow him more chakra and nutrition. Then he would have the energy to exercize. But on the other hand... why exercize, why waste energy on strengthening his body when he soon wouldn't be able to use it anymore. By ''it'' he meant his body.

''How could you do this?'' her voice trembles with emotion. But Itachi doesn't feel like starting a conversation. So he keeps quiet. Why bother? Why paying attention to her? ''Look at me...'' she speaks softly. He doesn't obey, he actually prefers watching the ceiling instead. He has already counted the amount of stones in the ceiling like twenty-two times, yet the ceiling never seems to bore him.

''LOOK AT ME!'' she yells with a high voice. His head snaps in her direction. He hated it when people yelled at him. Especially girls with those high shreeking voices. The last thing he had wanted was to get irritated. And oh, how she was irritating him now. His black eyes stare at her, disparaging. His brow is still lifted. ''You did it on purpose!'' she sniffs.

_Ho? She already becomes emotional?_

''Indeed.'' he answers softly. Mei doesn't follow his example, his calmness only seems to anger her more. ''How could you do this to me!'' Her hands clutch the iron bars. She presses her forehead against them as if trying to get near him. ''It's not that hard.''

She starts crying, her voice becomes hoarse. ''I don't believe this! Do you know I got fired because of you?'' her brown long hair falls in front of her face. Tears fall down on the ground. She sobs loudly. Her hand squeezes the bars harder, her knuckles turn white.

''You can't blame me for failing to do you job and sucking at it.'' he monotonously responds. Her irritating him now caused him to lose his politeness. The politeness his parents taught him. He was taught to always act polite, no matter what situation he was in. He never lost it after killing his clan. But somehow being in prison made him uncaring. Why staying polite to his capturers? Why staying polite when he would be executed. Strangely, he still didn't know when. Why didn't he know yet?

''You used me! You did it all on purpose!'' she cries even harder and sinks down to her knees. He keeps quiet and looks at the pathetic hunched-up figure in front of his cell, sobbing and wailing. How incredibly foolish... He didn't even do that much, it was her decision to start liking him that much. It almost angers him to see a person behaving like that, as if it was all his fault. But instead he decides to remain uninterested in her. Strangely he is even more interested in finding out how the guards find this whole situation. How they'd react to a girl making such a scene. He looks at them, but they don't show any reaction, which almost disappoints him. He would have enjoyed seeing one of them trying to comfort her or even sending her away. But they keep looking straight foreward. _Stupid, good-for-nothing Konoha ninjas..._

''I'll never forgive you...'' she whispers once she calms down, slowly wiping some tears away. ''That's fine.'' he stoicly responds. She opens her mouth again to say something, but then one of the guards taps her on the shoulder. ''Excuse me Miss, but your time is up. I think you should leave now.'' Mei sighs deeply and nods. While standing slowly, she sends the prisoner one last angry look. Then her head drops and she leaves the cellblock. Even the clicking of her high heels sounds depressing as it dies away slowly.

The guard returns to his spot again. Itachi merely scoffs and then watches the ceiling again, musing: ''Foolish girl.'' He then puts her out of his mind. Why waste time thinking about her? About a medic that is that easy to manipulate. He hated weak, he hated her foolishness. His thoughts briefly go to another medic. A stonger medic. But then he starts counting the stones of the ceilings for twenty-third time. Wondering if this time there would be one tile fewer. He knew there wouldn't, but still...

Her basket is half full already when she stands in front of the fruitsection. The girl feels glad that she can finally ponder over something unimportant like picking some fruits. The worries get off her chest slightly as she lets the two fruits in question completely occupy her mind. She taps her lowerlip with her indexfinger, obviously lost in thought. ''Strawberries or peaches?'' Which did she like best? She knew she wouldn't just buy both of them. No, that would be silly. Why? Because choises had to be made and also because she herself wanted to know which one she really did like best.

''I'd go for the peaches.'' a soft and low voice calls out. The pink haired kunoichi instantly straightens her back. Why hadn't she felt someone standing behind her? Must be a Shinobi. Come to think of it, that voice... She turns around quickly. Her green orbs fill themselves with shock when their eyes meet. She inhales sharply. The man in front of her smirks, which only seems to make her more speechless. He smirks at her in a way only he is capable of. Strangely, she feels butterflies in her stomach. She eyes him carefully. She eyes every detail the bright lights allow her to see. He takes a step towards her. His black hair has grown a bit; the clothes she saw him last in, are replaced by a jounin's outfit.

''S-Sasuke?'' he stops right in front of her. She notices how tall he has become. She looks up at him and stares in his dark eyes, completely in trance. His face is still the same, only a bit more mature and a deep scar runs over his right cheek. His words pull her out of the trance. ''How have you been, Sakura?'' he asks her softly, still with that smirk plastered on his face. Sakura blinks and then notices the figure at his left. Her eyes widen yet again. A little boy stands at her old-teammate's side. A little boy dressed in a black pants and shirt with a high collar. Sakura stares at the boy, completely ignoring Sasuke's question. The boy watches her with interest as well.

''Who is she?'' the boy asks, looking up at his father. ''This is Haruno Sakura. A former teammate of mine. A former member of team seven I recall.'' her eyes are still fixed on the boy, but she can hear that Sasuke is smiling.

_Smiling?_

Sakura takes in the little boy's expressions and movements as he eyes her again. ''I heard that name before...'' he mumbles. Sakura clears her throat, hoping to get her voice back. Her eyes shoot up at Sasuke, a bit narrowed. ''I didn't know you had a son. I heard you got married, but not that you had a child.'' she whispers. It was impossible not to tell. The boy resembled his father in almost every way. Sasuke's smile disappears. Suddenly sadness washes over Sakura, but she resists it forcefully.

_Why am I this sad?_

Was she feeling this disappointed for not being the one that he had chosen to be his partner? Was she sad because he didn't marry her instead? She bites her tongue and then forces herself to smile. She only hoped that he didn't notice that she didn't find this reunion as pleasant as he did.

_He has a fucking son? With another woman?_

''Would you like to see our new apartment, Sakura?'' his eyes tell her that he didn't notice her sudden mood swing. She nods and accepts the invitation. She casts one last glance at the boy next to Sasuke before picking up her basket. Without a second thought, her hand reaches out for the peaches. They walk next to each other towards the pay desk. Sakura stares at her basket's contents. ''What's his name?'' she nods her head towards the boy unloading Sasuke's shopping basket. ''His name is Shin.''

When they leave the small supermarket, two realizations strike Sakura. The first one was that Itachi spoke of a certain boy named Shin before. And the second was... that she should have taken the strawberries.

It's warm outside. The sun burns the bare skin in her neck. The sky is blue and with no white cloud to be seen. She follows the two men, her eyes never leaving the peaches in her grocery bag. Normally she would have enjoyed such a beautiful day, but with the two walking in front of her she simply could not. It bothered her that she had blindly taken the peaches. It bothered her that she had once again done something the man walking in front of her wanted. It reminded her of her old foolish self. The old Sakura that would let her hair grow long in order to please Sasuke. Unconsciously, her fingers move in her hair, softly pulling the short strands.

''Your hair is still short. I had expected it to be long again.'' he looks at her over his shoulder. Sakura only smiles, cursing herself for feeling butterflies in her stomach again. How could he have this effect on her after all these years? She watches his back and without a reason she starts comparing him to the other Uchiha. Itachi seems longer, but their postures are very alike. Sasuke doesn't have those lines under his eyes. He doesn't have those dark bags, because he probably sleeps a lot better than his brother. She doesn't even have to wonder why.

Five to ten silent minutes later, they're in Sasuke's apartment. Sakura's groceries are in the small hallway. Sasuke's apartment is in a flat. It's actually quite small, but that makes it somewhat cosy. They had picked a free apartment on the groundfloor so that they would have a small garden. Her hands are clutched around a glass of ice tea. While leaning against the wall near the kitchen, she watches Shin in the garden practicing with his shuriken. He looks so much like young Sasuke. A small smile plays her lips. But then she thinks of Itachi. Itachi is his uncle, she realizes. She bites her lip, wondering if Itachi knew that Shin is Sasuke's? And on top of that, did Sasuke even know that Shin visited Itachi?

''You can sit down if you like.'' Sakura turns around and sees Sasuke sitting at the kitchen table. She decides not to mention Itachi today. She knew it would ruin Sasuke's mood, and hers probably too. Perhaps in a few days... or weeks. She sits down opposite him and for a moment they both look at each other without saying a word. His black eyes stare into her green ones. Sakura can feel the atmosphere change around them. It changes into something she actually doesn't want it to change in. Not yet at least, first she wants to know everything. Sasuke doesn't look like he has many questions, so Sakura just starts. ''How did you actually get permission to stay here?''

Sasuke breaks the eye contact and momentarily watches Shin over her shoulder. ''I contacted Tsunade-sama after killing Orochimaru and Kabuto. I managed to convince her that I wasn't a deserter, but still loyal to Konoha and that I had already proved my loyalty by killing those two. Also, I told her that I needed a place to live with my family.'' he looks at her again, no emotion or expression revealed. ''Your family?'' she asks, frowning a bit. ''Shin and his mother'' he clarifies.

''Who is his mother really? And where is she?'' she takes a sip of her ice tea, wondering if she should expect to see his wife coming into the room any second now. Sasuke's eyes linger on her lips for a moment and then sits back in his chair comfortably and sighs. ''You really want to know?'' Sakura puts her glass on the table with a bit more force than she wanted. Luckily it doesn't break. ''Yes Sasuke, I really want to know.'' He shrugs. ''Alright then. She's in the Sound-village now. I didn't find it necessary for Shin to take her along. It's just some girl I met.''

''Just some girl... you decided to marry with and have kids with?'' she tries to hide her anger, but fails. Her emotions about this subject are way too obvious. Sasuke watches her with interest and grins. ''She had the right genes.'' Silence fills the room. Sakura watches her glass and the small icecubes. She restrains herself from getting angry or upset. The sound of shuriken hitting wood in the backyard is the only sound they hear.

''Do you... feel like hanging out sometimes?'' Sakura looks up, astonishment clearly visible in her green orbs. Sasuke sits up straight again, his full attention on her. She feels uncomfortable under his intense stare. This was exactly the atmosphere that she had tried to avoid. She sits up too and leans a bit foreward. ''You're married Sasuke.'' she speaks softly. ''Yes...'' She glares at him, she hated his short pointless confirmations.

''Oh come on, it's not like I love her.''

''You had sex with her. You MARRIED her.''

''She had good genes, that's all. She was the right kunoichi in the right place at the right time. I only wanted her to give me children.''

''And what do you want from me then? More children? You want your children to have good medical skills. I'm sure you've already heard my name since you came into the village!'' Sakura stands, anger now visible in her eyes. Sasuke stands too. ''You're jumping into silly conclusions. Asking you to hang out with me, doesn't mean I want you to have my children.'' She knew he was right, he didn't ask her to hang out with him just now so that she could have his kids. He didn't want to marry her this week, she knew that! But she also knew that maybe in a few years, he WOULD expect her to do those things for him. Because that was exactly what he wanted. She remembered him mentioning a long time ago that he wanted to resurrect his clan. She shakes her head and her hand moves into her pink hair. ''Why her?''

He doesn't answer to that question, but he answers to one she didn't ask. But they both knew she was wondering: Why not me?

''You would have refused if I had asked you to bear my children. So I didn't wait till I was in Konoha again.'' She then needed a full minute to come up with a qualified anwer. This conversation felt way too strange, it simply made her speechless.

''Indeed Sasuke. I would never allow you to use me like that.'' She walks towards the hallway, now with the intention to leave. Sasuke comes after her, but suddenly she stops in her tracks. She reconsiders her previously made decision about mentioning Itachi. Why not ask the bastard right away? ''One last question, Sasuke. What ever happened to your whole revenge-plan?'' Sasuke frowns, but then speaks: ''Tsunade-sama told me not to get near him. If I did, she told me I would have to leave the village again.''

''Why didn't you stay in the sound-village? Why do you desperately want to live here?''

''I want Shin to train here, also, this is the place where I want to raise a new Uchiha-clan.'' he takes a step closer to her. ''And you don't want to kill Itachi anymore?'' He scratches the back the back of his head and wonders why she was so interested. ''I only agreed to Tsunade's rules, because she told me that he would be tortured and executed.'' Sakura raises her pink eyebrows. But Sasuke doesn't seem to understand her surprisement. And that only angers her more, but instead of yelling at him, she grabs her bag and leaves. Sasuke's eyes narrow in confusion.

Of course he didn't understand. He didn't know she had been Itachi's personal medic for quite some time. He didn't know how often she had healed him. He didn't know that it was her that had to take away all of Itachi's pain. That incredible pain that he WANTED Itachi to feel. She runs her way home, suddenly realizing how strange it actually was for her to favor Itachi over Sasuke. Did she? Perhaps it only seemed that way. Perhaps she just needed an eye-opener?

_Yeah, like another fight you mean? _Inner-Sakura commented sarcastically. When Sakura got home, she grabbed the peaches and threw them almost madly into the bin.

''Sir...'' The voice echoes through his entire body. Sweatdrops run down his temples into his black hair. He knows he's having a fever.

''Sir...? SIR?'' Instantly his eyes open and he sits up. His body protests against his sudden movement. Nausea takes over and Itachi vomits next to his bed. His back stings as he hangs over the metal frame of his bed. Sweat almost drips in his eyes as he vomits. The fierceness causes his ribs to hurt badly. After finishing, the prisoner pushes his damp hair back and then slowly leans back agains the wall. Two big eyes are watching him through the bars. Itachi looks at the boy, panting heavily. A filthy taste in his mouth causes him to almost feel sick again.

''Are you...'' Shin starts, but he doesn't finish. They're both silent for a while. It seems as if they're waiting for Itachi to catch his breath before they start a small conversation again. Shin had returned because his uncle asked him to the previous time. The boy knew his father hated the prisoner. Sasuke had even forbidden him to come near Konoha's prison. Yet he felt drawn to the dangerous and mysterious charachter of this unknown relative. There was no harm in just visiting and talking right? Shin turns around and looks into two pair of eyes. ''Why are these two extra guards standing in front of your cell?'' Two masked Konoha shinobi were indeed standing in front of Itachi's cell. Their visible eyes looking straight ahead, ignoring Itachi and Shin completely. Itachi chuckles and wipes his upperlip. ''They're here to entertain me, so that I won't feel lonely.'' Shin faces Itachi with raised brows. ''How nice of them.'' he responds sarcastically. He taps the metal bars with his fingertips impatiently. ''Tell me.''

Itachi leans his head against the wall tiredly. The chuckle changes into a sad smile. ''They're here to make sure I won't get out.'' he closes his tired eyes and clears his still burning throat. His head is throbbing. ''Did you try to escape?'' Itachi can hear the boy's interest for him in his voice. Why, why was this boy so interested in him?

_Doesn't he know?_

''I try every now and then. But I never succeed though.'' he jokes. The boy remains silent for a while. Itachi's breath turns stable again and when he is very near to sleeping, Shin interrupts him. ''Itachi-san, why are you in jail?'' Itachi supresses a yawn.

_So he doesn't..._

The prisoner doesn't actually feel like talking about his past. But then again, it isn't like Itachi to have a taboo on a certain subject. The convict's black eyes open slowly. He sits up staight and ponders over a qualified yet undetailed answer for a few moments. What should he and what shouldn't he tell Shin?

''Sometimes people are very different.'' he begins softly, ''Their difference lies in their habits, ethics, measures, needs and things like that. Not every human has the same needs and goals, you know. Sometimes, even when being raised like any other, a human has it own perspectives, it's own needs, it's own goals. Because of these differences they create a completely other world for themselves. A place where they will fit in. And from that point they live by their selfcreated rules and measurements. They make their own different decisions based on their own different views. And sometimes those decisions oppose the believes and rules of their enviroment. So...'' Itachi figured that this story was probably too complicated for the boy. ''That's why many of them have to flee. Some get away. But some of them don't... like me.'' Itachi keeps staring at the boy. Even though the boy seemed young, it looked like he had understood everything Itachi just said.

_A prodigy huh?_

''What were your decisions? What did you do?'' Itachi crosses his arms over his chest and takes a deep breath. That stubborn boy actually wants to know everything. He watches Shin with interest as his words reach his nephew's ears. ''I killed everyone of the Uchiha-clan. Hn. That why you don't have any other family. That's why your father hates me, you know? Do you understand what I'm saying? If you were born twelve years ago...'' he smiles viciously. ''I would have cut your head off too.'' His voice echoes through the cell block. He figures that if the boy understands the meaning and the seriousness of his words, he will probably start running now. Or better: crying. He closes his eyes and waits for it. Sobs or running footsteps, which one will it be. But he merely hears: ''Why?''

Itachi's eyes crack open and he cocks his head to the left. ''Why what?''

''What did it bring you?'' Itachi's interest stirs. ''Hn. You don't think I'm just a malicious murderer? You don't think I could have killed them all just for fun?'' The boy clenches the bars again, making Itachi unable to tell whether the boy is feeling scared of just excited. ''No, if that were the case then the story you just told me would make no sense, would it?'' Itachi nearly feels stunned when he notices how much the boy actually resembles him. It seemed that Shin, just like himself, actually preferred the dark side of life. Unlike the boy's father.

That was the first time that the eldest Uchiha laughed out loud since he got into Konoha.

She turns left, coatless and with no possensions in her hands this time. She watches the dirty white walls absentmindedly. Suddenly she notices a small dark haired person walking around the corner. As soon as the small figure sees the medic, he sprints back. Sakura easily catches the boy. She grabs his collar and drags him to her. The boy starts struggling when she pushes him hard against the wall. ''Stop it! SHIN!'' he immediately freezes. And looks at her with angry black eyes. But his anger doesn't impress her. ''Don't come to this place anymore, Shin.'' she orders coldly. The boy scoffs. ''Who are you to order me around. Now, let go!'' he tries to free himself. Sakura however pushes him harder against the wall. His head bumps the stone wall hard. He grunts in pain as her hands fist themselves in his clothes ''Stop visiting him! I'll tell Sasuke!'' she hisses, making her voice sound deep. The boy's eyes now widen, he looks up. It's like now he suddenly noticed their difference in length, strength and age. Shin's reaction satisfies Sakura. So the fact that his father might find out DOES affect him? Sakura's look doesn't change when she slowly releases him. The boy stays pinned to the wall even when she withdraws her hands. His black eyes are still large. ''Go home.'' she orders again. And this time he obeys. He runs through the hallway, increasing their distance. Sakura inhales sharply after turning right. Slowly, the bars become visible to her eyes, as do the two guards in front of the celldoor. ''Open up.'' she demands. Her tone is impolite, her eyes filled with anger. As one of the guards opens the cell, she relives the memory and the main cause of her anger.

_''You didn't truly believe that they only gave me two more days, did you? Come one...'' he scoffs when he sees the look on her face. ''We didn't set any date for his execution, did we? They would give me years for this interrogation, Haruno, considering how much information he contains. No, we just wanted him to feel safe, so that this time he'll definitely break. They always break, Sakura. This Uchiha just a little bit slower than the rest. You still have a lot to learn.'' he laughs as if telling her some joke. But she didn't find it funny at all. At first, she only grits her teeth, but then she fails miserably in remaining calm. ''You have sick minds you know that? He's more than just an information-container. He's a human being!'' she yells at her superior and with a sudden move she stands and kicks the chair she was sitting in against the wall. It crashes into two bookshelves. Pieces of wood and splinters fly through the air. Fierce anger fills Ibiki's eyes. He instantly stands too and leans over the desk, bringing his face near to the medic's. ''Do you have ANY idea how much information he contains. We could wipe out entire Akatsuki with his knowledge. How else do you think that we get vital information out of criminals, Haruno? Unless you care more about that Uchiha than you do about the safety of your village!'' The sound of a hand hitting one's cheek fills the room. A desk breaks, piles of paperwork fly around, a door is being slammed and pieces of ceiling crash down._

She steps into the cell and approaches him. The situation already made her forgot to fear him, even after their last frightening encounter. ''Patient 8-165, I am here to deliver you a message.'' she speaks business-like. So unlike she used to speak to him, so emotionless. Her voice doesn't comfort him anymore like this. Where has that gentle, caring and feminine voice gone to? Itachi almost feels anger awakening in himself when he notices her calling him patient 8-165. But the convict doesn't stir an eyelid.

_Patient 8-165 huh?_

The eight stands for the fact that he's a prisoner, that he knows. And he guesses that the 165 must be his cell's number or that he is this year's 165th patient in prison. It doesn't really matter. He is sitting lazily against the stone wall, ontop of his bed. His blanket is tossed to the side. His hair covers one half of his face, but even with his exposed eye he doesn't look at her. And that hurts Sakura in a way she can't describe. She can't even put her finger on WHY it actually matters to her. She puts it out of her mind. ''I tried to tell you previous time, but you attacked me before I could.'' He looks up, and now she is the one who to avoid his eyes. She simply can't look in his eyes, not now. Because those eyes seemed to trigger emotions deep inside her everytime she looked into them. So instead, she looks at the wall behind him. Sakura doesn't want to talk to him, but it's necessary. It's her duty.

He remains seated on his bed. ''What?'' he asks, irritation clearly audible in his voice. Sakura swallows. ''The torturing never ended.'' the girl speaks weakly. It took a few seconds for the man to understand what her words exactly meant.

His eyes grow big and fear becomes visible in them. That fear almost seemed primal, since he couldn't seem to hide it. Sakura watches his reaction with sadness and secret fascination. So there is something this Uchiha is afraid of now. That thought immediately disappears from her mind when the sound of a door being unlocked reaches their ears. She turns her back on him slowly as they both hear the many footsteps. Itachi sees six guards walking to the celldoor, followed by Ibiki. His eyes follow Ibiki carefully, already fearing for what's coming. He instantly jumps up.

As the celldoor opens, Sakura looks into Ibiki's eyes for a second as he enters the cell first. But then she closes them. She bends herself to the will of her superior, because that's what being a ninja is about: doing the job you're supposed to do. Even when being specialized to the medical arts. He passes her, she lets him pass her. The medic lets him get near HER patient. She hears his footsteps in his heavy boots and his long leather coat rush after him. She hated the sound of it, she hated his voice, she hated his sight, she hated his whole being. More footsteps enter the cell, following Ibiki's. She keeps her eyes shut tight and shuts out everything. Every feeling, every thought, except for the sounds of iron chains and Itachi, screaming his lungs out. The sounds sickens her. She supresses her rage, she ignores her medical instinct, she restrains herself, as she keeps listening to his screaming and to how they roughly take him away to that place. She can almost hear his fingernails scrape over the stone walls as he tries to resist. The sickening memories of torture force itselves into her mind. They take him away, to the dungeon, to the torture room. Where they will cage him and never let him escape again. This was the first time that she fully realized... that he was truly doomed.

A long time seems to pass by.

She carefully opens her eyes again, the bright light stings them. Ibiki is standing next to her. Unconsciously she had clutched the ironbars and clinged onto them. She knows that he had just seen her unprofessional behaviour and reactions. Shame fills her heart. A shinobi should never show any emotions. And medic's should never get emotionally involved with their work or patients. They remain silent for a long time. Then Sakura whispers: ''Why kill him after he breaks? Why kill him after he tells you all the vital information?''

''Because he's too dangerous to be kept alive. Konoha isn't obliged to keep promises to people like him.'' he responds coldly. For a second Sakura wonders what Ibiki is talking about. But then she remembers his words. She remembers that Ibiki told Itachi that if he'd tell them one vital thing, they would keep him alive. So they were all just tricks. They never intended to do good. They had planned on killing him from the start, how could she not have seen? And how could Ino like being in the interrogation-squad? The bitter thoughts are suddenly pushed aside by brighter one: They hadn't been able to trick Itachi. Itachi hadn't spilled. Itachi had resisted it all. Ibiki interrupts her train of thoughts.

''Because I think you're still young and able to learn from your mistakes... I'm going to forget the things I just saw.'' Sakura faces him after releasing the bars. His eyes looks hard and merciless. ''I'm going to pretend that you didn't hit your superior in the face. But you'd better be more careful in my presence from now on, Haruno.'' She immediately recognizes the threat.

''I understand.'' she manages to sound business-like again. The atmosphere darkens for brief moment, but then she nods politely and Ibiki leaves the cell. Sakura listens to his heavy footsteps, slowly dying away. Oh, how she hated the sound of it.

* * *

**You all know I am fond of reviews! =D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Bet you guys thought I would never ever update again huh?**

**Gotcha there!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

She turns over and exhales. Her body is sweating, though her feet are cold like ice. She turns on her back again and watches the dark ceiling. For countless seconds, maybe even minutes, she lies like this. Sakura bites her lower lip and again exhales. She trembles a bit. There were no words for this feeling. No words to describe this... pain.

The feeling of being powerless, the feeling of injustice. Or was that just her opinion? Was she wrong?

She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block out the night. But she already knows she cannot shut out the horrible thoughts. The thoughts of him and what's probably happening to him now. The sound of his screaming repeats itself in her mind, over and over... and over. The girl kicks her white sheets away and fists her hands in her unwashed hair. When she opens her soft green eyes again, her vision is blurred. Tears leak on her pillow. She will not sleep, not tonight.

_These are not mine..._

''How are the arms, prisoner?'' A rough hand jerks Itachi's head up and holds his chin firmly. His mind is still full of the new pain they made him go through. The burnmarks on his arms and hands sting badly. They'd held them above a few candles until his blood had put out most of them. His eyes roll. He feels sick.

_These burned hands aren't mine. I deny it._

How was it possible that only a few weeks ago, he was still in Akatsuki's headquarter. Busy planning assaults, infiltrations, world domination and his own future in it. He had so much influence, power, freedom... And now, as a result of having met the wrong circumstances at the wrong time, he was here. Powerless, locked, possessed. There was no freedom. Not here. His body wasn't his anymore. Konoha took it and was now doing it's thing with it. How could everything turn out like this? It didn't seem real. Nothing was. It all felt impossible to comprehend.

A fist suddenly punches his face. Itachi wakes up from a trance he didn't know he fell into. His eyes focus on the man.

''Now he's back.'' The man that just gave Itachi a throbbing headache is one of Ibiki's staff. And judging his posture he had been one of the men treating Itachi from the very beginning. From the very first day he was imprisoned. The man is huge, always masked, always dressed in the same dark kind of clothing and with small blue eyes that have a malicous glint in them. Ibiki never tortured anyone himself. He always let ''his boys'' do the dirty jobs. Though, he did watch. He always would quietly stand in a corner and observe every scream, every body movement and every reaction. Itachi figured that he was looking for an opening, a way to make someone talk. Looking for a way to break him. And tonight also, he was standing in the corner, hiding himself in the shadow.

But Itachi fails to see Ibiki raising his hand. The masked man looks at his superior and then quickly nods.

''I've been told that the Uchiha's specialty lies in the eyes. Is that right?'' he speaks and the two other men in the room laugh. Itachi lips part, his breath leaves his mouth in quick soft pants. His lips move slowly.

''What was that?'' The man moves his ear near Itachi's mouth and listens.

''P-please.''

The masked man gives a throaty laugh, spitting in the prisoner's face while doing so. But Ibiki steps into the light, his eyes slightly narrowed. The Uchiha hadn't begged before. Could this be...something?

''Continue.'' He speaks as he takes a new position at the masked man's side. The candle lights make the scars on Ibiki's damaged face stand out even more. The man proceeds and takes a kunai from his pouch. Itachi struggles against the strong grip on his jaw. But with his arms and legs tightly chained to the wall, there is no way that he can even move an inch. The tip of the rusty kunai is guided closer and closer. Itachi's breath speeds up insanely, his heart races in his chest. His black eyes widen. The tip goes to his face.

He pulls the chains with all his strength. His wrists and ankles hurt, but he resists. He grunts deeply...

''Last chance, Uchiha!'' Ibiki calls.

He cries out, and pulls, and jerks, and yanks and madly shakes his head. Another man steps in and holds the Uchiha's head in place. The kunai approaches. Itachi watches it, eyes even wider and his mind filled with the horrible knowledge of what's coming next.

His shoulders and all the muscles in his neck tense painfully. But it will come. He pants. I won't be prevented. It's coming.

The last this he sees is the tip and the flickering light of candles against the stone walls.

The last thing he hears is mumbling, his own screaming and a sickening soft sound.

_I deny this ending._

* * *

**I know this was short, I have more, but I really wanted to update something already. I'm sorry that I didn't update for more than a year. I need to get back into writing-mode. I've been out of it for some time. Hope you guys will take it easy on me haha.**

**I promise the next chapter will be posted soon!**_  
_


End file.
